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'Tis A Gift
'Tis a Gift is the twenty-first episode and the first season finale. Plot It is the Christmas holidays at Shining Time Station, and the place is bustling with activity as people are rushing to catch trains to take them to see their families. Even Schemer is in a good mood, as he reveals to the kids Matt and Tanya that the Indian Valley Christmas Committee is putting on a Christmas pageant and will pick one lucky contestant to play the role of Santa's Helper. Schemer is confident that he will get the role. J.B. King, the superintendent of the Indian Valley Railroad, arrives at the station and meets a new engineer, who introduces himself as Harry's cousin, Tucker Cooper. He has come to help out following Harry's transfer to Twiddly Junction. Mr. King welcomes Tucker to Shining Time Station and asks if he's met Mr. Conductor. Cooper had not, and is a bit skeptical due to Mr. King's description. Stacy tells the kids that Christmas is her favorite time of the year because the sight of the passengers hurrying through the station's shows everyone's desire to get together for the holidays. When the kids mention having nothing to do, Stacy suggests that they write letters to Santa Claus, which they do to the accompaniment of some music performed by the Jukebox Puppets. Having finished their letters, the kids take them to Stacy to find how to address them to Santa, but Mayor Flopdinger rushes in to inform Stacy that the Christmas Committee has no place to meet that night, so they've decided to hold the meeting to elect Santa's Helper at Shining Time Station, much to her frustration. The kids still don't know Santa Claus' exact address, but fortunately they are aided to Mr. Conductor, who has written to Santa before. He suggests the kids to go outside and build a snowman to pass the time waiting for Santa, and they begin to go outside with only their coats on, claiming that they don't need their hats and mittens. Mr. Conductor then tells them a story of how Thomas the Tank Engine once felt the same way about his snow plow. Thomas meets a friendly tractor named Terence and mocks Terence's use of his caterpillars. Winter soon arrives, and Thomas is forced to wear an uncomfortable snowplough. Thomas shakes and bangs the snowplough so much that by the end of the day it's too damaged to use again. The next day Thomas continues his work, without his snowplough, much to his delight. Unfortunately, he quickly comes across a snowdrift and crashes right into it, ending up trapped in the sbow. Instantly he begins to regret breaking his snowplough. Bertie arrives to take Thomas' passengers and Terence comes to the rescue, taking Annie and Clarabel away before rescuing Thomas from the snow. Thomas thanks Terence and calls his caterpillars splendid. Having finished his story, Mr. Conductor tells Matt and Tanya everyone has something special to offer the world, but they don't always know it. He then magically sends off their letters and disappears. The kids then overhear that Vickie, a bratty local girl, will be spending the afternoon at the station with them. The both protest, knowing that Vickie is difficult to get along with, but Stacy encourages them to try to be nice to her and think of her good traits. Tanya notes that Vickie does have a good singing voice. Characters * Mr. Conductor * Stacy Jones * Schemer * Matt * Tanya * J.B. King * Mayor Flopdinger * Midge Smoot * Tucker * Vickie * Claire * Mr. Nicholas * The Jukebox Band * Harry Cupper (mentioned) * Schemer's Mother (mentioned) * Thomas (mentioned) * Terence (mentioned) Thomas Stories * Terence the Tractor (used in TV version) Thomas hates wearing his snow plow. Snow is silly soft stuff and Thomas thinks he’ll plow right through it just fine without a snow plow. Ultimately, Thomas gets stuck and it’s up to his new friend Terence the Tractor to pull him out of the snow. * Thomas' Christmas Party (used as second story in TV version; used as first story in video version) It has been a whole year since Ms. Kindly saved Thomas from a nasty accident. Christmas day is almost upon them and the engines decided to thank her properly by throwing a Christmas party for her. Unfortunately Ms. Kindly is snowed in and Thomas has to rescue her this time so she can make it to the surprise party. * Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree (used in video version) Thomas is sent by Sir Topham Hat on a special mission to get a Christmas tree and bring it back for a party. But Thomas gets caught in a snow drift and goes missing. The Scottish twins Donald and Douglas are sent to rescue Thomas help him back to the party with the Christmas Tree. Jukebox Band Segment Song * Over the River and Through the Woods * Jingle Bells * It's Christmas time at the Railway Station * Simple Gifts Cartoons and Songs * The Hobo Song Trivia * This is Ringo Starr's last appearance as Mr. Conductor. His role will be taken over by George Carlin in the next season. * Mr. Conductor sings a modified bar of The Lumberjack Song from Monty Python's Flying Circus as he carries his Christmas tree. He adds "and I'm all right" in place of the song's original "and I'm okay". * This is the second time 'Terence the Tractor' is told by Mr. Conductor. * This special is dedicated to all those who helped to build Shining Time Station. * This is the only Season 1 episode to be released on video. * This is the only appearance of Mr. Nicholas, Vickie, Claire, and Tucker Cupper. * Although generally considered to be a 'special', this was the 21st and final episode of Season 1. * This would be the last episode to debut stories from Series 1 of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends until "Whistles & Sneezes" appeared in the season 2 episode, "Achoo." * Upon its VHS release in 1992, the Thomas stories in this episode were rearranged. "Thomas's Christmas Party" was made the first story, while "Thomas and the Missing Christmas" became the final story. As Ringo Starr had left and thus never created a US version of the latter, the original UK soundtrack was used, removing all mentions of "The Fat Controller". 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